The plaintiff in the Hartford drone case is Pedro Rivera, 29, a journalist who claimed that officers demanded he stop flying a remote-controlled aircraft about the scene of a fatal car crash on February 1. Rivera claimed police asked him to leave the area he was covering, and also told his employer that he had interfered with a police investigation.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court against the Hartford Police Department seeking damages for Rivera, asking the court to declare that he did not break any laws by operating the drone, a 2.5-pound, four-rotor aircraft.

The Federal Aviation Administration, which is investigating Rivera's use of an aerial drone, has discouraged their use for commercial purposes, including journalism.